Book Review of "Tokyo Vice" By Jake Adelstein

Absolutely riveting! Out of the many hundreds of books that I go through year in and year out, this one was an absolute page turner.

An autobiography of sorts, Tokyo Vice chronicles Jake Adelstein's 30-year tenure as a bilingual reporter working for Yomiuri Shinbun, one of Japan's most prestigious newspapers. The book's prologue opens with a shuddering depiction of the author being threatened by a mafia member to not publish a certain article that would expose the underground activities of a certain mafia boss who had arranged for a liver transplant at a US hospital. From there in Chapter One, we are transported back to his fresh-out-of-school job hunting days where we find our young and poor protagonist living in a cramped apartment with no air-conditioning ( apparently Jake would stretch out his legs and place his feet into his tiny
refrigerator to cool off during the hot summers) . After passing Yomiuri's
initial　examination and a series of interviews, Jake begins his first year of
employment　where he makes new friends (and enemies) while learning the ropes of
journalism and more importantly develops the capacity to cope with the many
subtle cultural differences needed to survive in a large, traditional Japanese
corporation.

After this initial honeymoon period, Jake is assigned to cover the police
beat　where the real rollercoaster ride begins as he is thrust into a world of
sex trafficking, gang violence, drugs and murder. The stories move at a fast pace and we are allowed inside the author's innermost thoughts as he weaves his way through a world of bribery, erotic massages, and cop-gangster partnerships. However, no matter how blurred the line of conscience separating　right from wrong becomes, I couldn't help but sense that there was a moral voice　of outrage inside Jake, guiding him, urging him on to get to the truth and bring　about justice whether confronting sex trafficking or attempting to gather forcible　evidence that would bring about the downfall of a crime lord or yet-to-be-convicted　murderer. Though somewhat subdued, I felt like the book did end on a positive note　as Jake finally does bring down his primary antagonist mentioned in the first paragraph　of this review. However it is a bumpy ride filled with many twists and turns, but　definitely a move Sun Tzu would have been proud of. A couple of steps in retreat　and then BAM! You're dust baby. Or given the author's ethnicity, maybe I should　say a dynamic combination of Jewish ingenuity and chutzpah.

What I learned the most:
-That the extent of stereotypical collusion between the different Japanese
newspapers are not as bad as I had been led to believe. Newspapers compete
ferociously with each other to be the first one to get a story out. Further,　while there may be instances where the police and newspapers do collude or cooperate with each other, I gathered from this book that it's more the exception than the rule. Newspaper reporters have to do a lot of ass kissing and gift giving in order to reach that point where their relationship with a police officer will lead to a disclosure of information.

What I found most shocking:
-That a white(albeit Jewish) foreigner was able to be accepted as an equal permanent employee in a traditional, very Japanese company. Further, the fact that Jake was able to hone his Japanese language ability to the point where he could write newspaper articles simply blows me away.

What made me laugh:
There is a humourous scene where after a company drinking party, one diminutive superior doesn't take kindly to Jake and provokes him into a fight that occurs outside on the sidewalk. Within a few seconds, Jake using his Wing Chun kung fu skills gets the upper hand and ends up straddling his attacker from the frontside. Just as he is about to pummel him into submission, the fight is stopped and the idiot who initiated the attack is called a dwarf and chewed out for his immaturity. It was quite funny actually.

What made me cry:
There is a touching chapter about one of Jake's fellow female reporters. She was a human rights activitist passionate about protecting and bringing recognition to handicapped people through her journalistic gifts. However, she gets in an altercation with her boss leading to her being demoted to an irrelevant HR position where she can no longer work as a reporter. She falls into a depression and unable to shake off the despair commits suicide.

What made me angry:
-The fact that the yakuza (Japanese Gangsters) are able to extort ridiculously huge sums of money from their front enterprises and also how well-entrenched the yakuza are in normal politics and businesses such as real estate.

What I thought was missing:
I guess the only criticism I would have is that there was nothing detailing how Jake acquired his superlative Japanese language skills. Being an avid Japanese language student myself, I would have loved to have received some tips and insights. In fact, I'd be really interested to know if there was some special training he underwent at Yomiuri to acquire his newspaper writing skills.

Who would I recommend this book to?
Anybody interested in the real, dark underside of Japan. Possibly a lot of foreigners have this idyllic image of cherry blossoms and giggling ladies sitting at home sipping green tea in kimono while their husbands are out working 24 hours a day. All I can say is, if anybody is carrying around such a ridiculous stereotype, prepare to have it completely exploded after reading this book.

Some Snapshot Excerpts:
"'Either erase the story, or we'll erase you. And maybe your family. But we'll do them first, so you learn your lesson before you die.' The well-dressed enforcer spoke very slowly, the way people speak to idiots or children or the way Japanese sometimes speak to clueless foreigners. It seemed like a straightfoward proposition. 'Walk away from the story and walk away from your job, and it'll be like it never happened. Write the article, and there is nowhere in this country that we will not hunt you down. Understand?'"
Pg. 3

"If you want to be an excellent reporter, you have to amputate your past life. You have to let go of your pride, your free time, your hobbies, your preferences, and your opinions. If you have a girlfriend, she'll be gone as soon as you're not around."
Pg. 33

"For a reporter, dating is impossible. My budding relationship with my first serious girlfriend effectively ended with a phone call. Not from her but from Yamamoto, at nine in the evening. It was the first day I'd had off in three weeks, and I-chan and I were on my futon, catching up on some long-missed sex, when the phone rang. I had no choice but to dismount and pick up. 'Adelstein, we got a probable murder in Chichiby, and we need you to go to the scene. Get your ass down here in ten minutes.'"
pg. 73

"As far as entertainment districts went, in 1999 nothing beat Kabukicho for pure sleaze. Drugs, prostitution, sexual slavery, rip-off bars, dating clubs, massage parlors, S-and-M parlors, pornography shops and porn producers, high-dollar hostess clubs, low-dollar blow job saloons, more than a hundred different yakuza factions, the Chinese mafia, gay prostitute bars, sex clubs, female junior high school students' soiled uniforms/panties resale shops, and a population of workers more ethnically diverse than anywhere else in Japan. It was like a foreign country in the middle of Tokyo. Of course, I didn't have any idea of how sleazy the place was at that time. All I knew was that I had been assigned to cover it."
Pg. 141

"People get killed or injured here(Kabukicho) all the time. But who cares if some chink, yakuza thug, or whore gets whacked? The cops don't, and the public doesn't either. Nine times out of ten, no matter how much it looks like a murder, the Shinjuku police will write it up as a case of assualt resulting in death-or manslaughter. Why? So they don't have to launch a full-fledged investigation. They could find a Chinese skimmer stabbed thirty-six times in the back on the streets of Kabukicho, and they'd call it an accidental death."
pg. 143

"The Japanese have words for sadness that are so subtle and complicated that the English translations don't do them justice. Setsunai is usually translated as 'sad,' but it is better described as a feeling of sadness that is physical and tangible. There is another word, too-yarusenai, which is grief or lonliness so strong that you can't get rid of it, you can't clear it away."
Pg. 203

"Over time, I lost interest in sex. It seemed a vulgar, nasty, and brutish thing. Everything about it seemed vaguely unpleasant. I wasn't impotent, I just wasn't interested. Chronic fatigue didn't help either."
pg. 260

"'You know, I like the work, I tried being an English teacher, which pays all right, but I hate that work. Especially dealing with obsessive grammarians. What's the past perfect imperative tense? Who gives a fuck, you know? I realized when I took the money the first time for sex that I'd much rather make a living on my back than standing up. Fifty thousand yen-I could work as an English teacher for three eight hour days and still not clear that.'" (Response received during interview with an Australian prostitute.)

pg. 271

"I spent one evening with The Perfect Manual for Suicide in an old hotel built in the twenties, contemplating giving it a try. It seemed like an option. In Japan, after a certain number of years, many Japanese life policies pay off even in cases of suicide. If I took myself out, I'd leave behind money for my family and there would be no reason for Goto to bother anyone I cared about. I never would have imagined that I might even consider joining the ranks of the unfortunate who put the manual into the practice."
pg. 311